The Taste of Syracuse is returning for the first time since 2019 and will be taking over the streets surrounding Clinton Square all weekend with over 75 different food vendors to choose from.
All the fun starts with the first concert at noon on Friday. There will be plenty of music on three stages with the biggest name being Everclear on Saturday night; which will be a special treat for all the 90's music fans out there.
Currently the focus for setup is adding tents, and backing in food trucks. Today, vendors will start loading in their equipment, with the food coming in on Friday.
Electricians are ensuring there is enough power for all the cooking. One big change you’ll notice if you’re a returning Taste of Syracuse fan is samples this year will be $2. The price has been adjusted from the previous $1 to accommodate rising costs.
Just a couple of vendors this year include Gilligan’s Wine Ice Cream, Oompa Loompyas, and It’s a Utica Thing.
“There’s live music, obviously lots of adults can come down, we encourage you to come down for lunch, come down for happy hour. But during the day bring your kids down. We have the Well Now Urgent Care Family Zone, we also kick of Saturday with our youth talent showcase in Clinton Square," said Carrie Wojtaszek, COO of Galaxy Media, the business organizing the festival.
Each year the event chooses two non profits in the area to support, and this year is about the kids.
If you stop by the Tops or Summit tents this weekend, they will be raising money for Make A Wish, and McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center. That fundraiser has a $10,000 goal.
The fun starts Friday afternoon, and goes through Saturday night.
“As far as parking we have lots of parking garages, there’s plenty of street parking. If you are headed up to the dome on Saturday, we know people are, we are the perfect place for a pre game, so come here, come hungry, come eat," said Wojtaszek.
Be sure to look out for street closings as you’re navigating downtown this week:
- Clinton will be closed from Genesee to Washington
- Water will be closed from Salina to Franklin
- Erie Blvd will be closed in the middle of those closings
- Friday morning, Franklin closes